Corruption, regardless of its form, is the biggest obstacle to progress and economic development of a country. It extends its tentacles into all aspects of life, including social, political and economic levels, undermining trust in the rule of law and in state institutions. No surprise then, that In this year’s global Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Kuwait scored dismally.
In response to the poor CPI standing, Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority, Nazaha, released a statement saying that failure to enact relevant legislations in timely manner was among the reasons why Kuwait received such low rankings in the annual index published by the Berlin-based global anti-corruption agency, Transparency International.
Nazaha noted that delays in enacting requisite legislation, including on conflict of interests, right
to information and regulating information gathering, as well as the lack of legislation on regulating appointments in top posts and on organizing electoral campaigns, were some of the reasons for Kuwait’s poor showing in the CPI.
Nazaha was set up in 2016 in response to Kuwait’s ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Among the tasks assigned to the authority are to fight corruption, prosecute corruption perpetrators, recover funds and proceeds that arise from corruption, and protect State bodies from bribery, influence peddling and abuse of power for personal benefits, as well as prevent nepotism and intercession or ‘wasta’.
The mandate shouldered by Nazaha is no doubt a weighty one, considering that most of the activities that it has been tasked with preventing have over the years become ingrained in public life, and for ages it has been intrinsic to how things get accomplished in Kuwait.
In the Corruption Perception Index for 2019 that was published by Transparency International on 20 January, a total of 180 countries and territories were ranked by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, based on observations of experts and business professionals. The index comprising various metrics ranked countries on a scale of zero to 100, where a score of zero indicated highly corrupt while 100 represented very clean.
Among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, the top scorer was the United Arab Emirates at spot 21 and with a score of 71, followed by Qatar in rank 30 with a tally of 62. Saudi Arabia came in third spot in the GCC with a rank of 51 and a score of 53, while Oman ranked 56 with a score of 52. Bahrain ranked 77 with a score of 42, and, no drum-roll please, Kuwait came in last spot in the GCC with a rank of 85 and a score of 40, three below the global average of 43.
New Zealand and Denmark topped the index with a score of 87, followed by Finland with a score of 86. Switzerland, Singapore and Sweden each scored 85 to tie for fourth place in the index, while Norway rounded off the top-five with a score of 84.
At the bottom of the corruption were Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Afghanistan, each with a score of 16 and ranked 176 in the index, followed down the list by Yemen in 177 position with a score of 15. Syria ranked 178 with a score of 13, and South Sudan came in one spot lower with a score of 12. At the bottom was Somalia at 180 position and a score of 9.
In its observations on corruption in Kuwait, Transparency International noted that “reports about many corruption cases in Kuwait undermines confidence between the society and the State, creates an impression about the non-enforcement of the law for executing verdicts against corruption and reclaiming misappropriated funds.”
Among the recommendations made by Nazaha to fight corruption are amending the penal code to render bribing civil servants a penal crime, in addition to criminalizing bribes in the private sector, expanding scope of responsibility to cover independent entities both, persons and institutions, in tandem with enforcing international treaties and accords on revamping precautions against corruption.
Nazaha noted that in 2019, Kuwait posted improvements on several global indices, including in the ease of doing business and in the global competitiveness index, but all these achievements, as well as growth and progress of the country, are being corroded by the lack of improvements in the fight against corruption. The authority called for cooperation among all stakeholders for implementing the strategy for boosting integrity and combating corruption.
In 2019, Kuwait had more than its share of corruption scandals and this trend looks set to continue in 2020, with allegations of corruption already emerging early last week. The latest scandal to appear was the revelation that the Eurofighter deal which Kuwait signed in 2016 was tainted by corruption at the highest levels of the defense ministry.
The new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mansour, has now submitted a detailed report on alleged violations in the purchase of the Eurofighter jets for Kuwait Airforce to the concerned authorities. The report is understood to implicate several senior, former and current, officials in the ministry of defence, including a former minister. They are alleged to have taken advantage of their positions to intentionally and illegally ‘inflate’ the value of the armament purchase contract to embezzle State funds.
The deal to purchase 28 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets from Italian aerospace and defense supplier Finmeccanica SpA for US$9.1 billion in April 2016, is alleged to have defrauded the State of millions of dollars through inflated bills. The case is highly contentious, as it witnessed accusations and counter-accusations in the previous government by two former defense ministers that ultimately led to the Cabinet’s resignation.
Another highly-charged corruption case has been going on in Kuwait’s courts for years. In November of 2019, the Criminal Court in Kuwait finally passed a sentence of 15 years imprisonment with hard labor against two former executives of Kuwait Gulf Link Investment (KGLI), who were accused of embezzling public funds and engaging in money laundering.
The former CEO and Vice-Chairperson of KGLI, Marsha Lazareva a Russian national, and her co-defendant Saed Dashti, a Kuwaiti businessman who led Kuwait & Gulf Link Transportation Company, were sentenced on two counts of money laundering and fined. The two were arrested and jailed in 2017 for embezzling nearly half a billion dinars from The Port Fund, an investment portfolio managed by KGLI, in which two government entities, Kuwait Ports Authority and Kuwait Public Institution for Social Security had together bought a 60 percent stake in 2007.
In May 2018, a court had sentenced the two to 10 years imprisonment and ordered them to pay a fine of KD22 million for their role in the embezzlement. The conviction was later successfully appealed in an Appeals Court, which ruled a mistrial. Last week reports emerged that another court in Kuwait had extended the prison-term of Ms.Lazareva by a further seven years for wrongfully billing the Kuwait Port Authority for consultancy work she never performed. This brings her total sentence to 22 years in prison.
Many other big and small corruptions have come to light over the years in Kuwait, but except for a handful few cases most others have been shelved or dismissed for the want of evidence under current corruption laws. Some of the perpetrators of these crimes brazenly go about their business in the country, while others enjoy the spoils of their crime in the safety of Western democracies where they have sought ‘political’ asylum. One wonders, where would the world’s thieves and knaves be without Western political asylum.
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